Archives for November 2017

Olean’s getting some advice about how to deal with all it’s stray cats.
A couple of Buffalo area experts will talk to the Common Council on Tuesday about maybe changing a few city ordinances on stray animals. They want the city to adopt police called trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR). The city ended a program with the SPCA in June.
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An Olean man with a long felony rap sheet is going to prison for up to three years. 26 year old Stephon Edwards has been charged more than a few times over the last three and a half years. He’s been arrested for drug possession, damaging property, harassment and failing to appear in court. This time he was convicted of causing $250 worth of damage to someone’s property. He could be out in a year and a half at the earliest.
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The Olean rental inspection law is going back to drawing board to fix some bad grammar
It’ll delay a vote until December. The law would require a state building code inspection and certificate of occupancy for every property at title transfer, and an inspection and certificate for rental units after every vacancy. There are about 1,300 registered rental properties with more than 2,600 units, according to the city’s database of rental properties. The proposal will be on the Dec. 12 agenda. If the proposal is not approved by the end of the year, it would have to be reintroduced in January.
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Rep. Tom Reed says it’s not true. He’s not running for governor. Earlier this week a blog named Reed as the favorite to run against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo next year. But Reed says he’s committed to running for re-election to a fourth term in Congress. Reed didn’t rule out running for governor some day in the future though.

High water is delaying the $6M Red House Lake dam and bridge project.
Construction crews are back at work right now, crews have been set back by high water from storms. Delivery of three sections of a precast concrete bridge was delayed because of the storms. The bridge was scheduled to arrive last week, but it’ll be Dec. 11, before it arrives now.
After the bridge is placed on the piers and abutments, the project will be shut down for the winter. The dam and original bridge were built in 1930.
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Portville teachers will see over a 3 percent raise every year for the next four years.
According to the new four-year contract between the district and the Portville Teachers Association, district teachers will see a 3.2 percent increase this school year before increases of 3.3 percent, 3.4 percent and 3.5 percent, over the next three years. The new deal was unanimously ratified by the district’s Board of Education and is retroactive to Sept. 1st

Employment is holding steady in Cattaraugus County. 31,800 people have jobs.
Cattaraugus is one of three Western New York counties with the same number of workers last month as in October 2016.
Wyoming and Genesee are the other two counties.
Allegany, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara and Orleans all reported lower compared job numbers, according to the latest state Labor Department report.
Cattaraugus County’s unemployment rate in September was 5.3 percent, or about 1,800 unemployed,
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The emerald ash borer is becoming an issue for Cattaraugus County. The invasive species is a major problem for a portion of the 2,000 acres of county forest.

County Legislator Joe Snyder, who also works as a lumber buyer in the Southern Tier timber industry says he’s afraid the ash trees are going to disappear.
A segment of the forest near Portville appears to be hardest hit. The Legislature moved to salvage the situation, recently awarding a cutting contract to a Cortland company which will pay $258,000.

Visitors could be helping Cattaraugus County to a record year for tax collections.
There’s never been a better year for the Cattaraugus County bed tax on hotel rooms, according to county treasrer Joseph Keller. Keller told the olean times herald that travelers accounted for 15 percent more tax money in the first nine months of this year as compared to last years collections.
Hotel rooms in Ellicottville contribute the most to county bed taxes, followed by Olean, Allegany and Great Valley.
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the second StrOlean of 2017 was a success, according to area business owners.
The Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce says over 50 organizations took part the business promotion this weekend. Half of the shops were located in the mall due to weather conditions.
The first event in August was organized to celebrate North Union Street’s transformation; the second took place for Small Business Saturday, highlighting the holiday shopping season.

That deadly car crash in Salamanca over the weekend has led to manslaughter charges against the driver.
21 Damion Taylor was reportedly driving recklessly when he lost control of the car and hit a tree off Old Route 17. 21 year old Alexandrea Kindt was ejected from the car and died.
Taylor was taken too Cattaraugus County Jail and held on a $100,000 cash bail. Additional charges are pending.
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The Portville Central School District and Portville Teachers Association have agreed to a new 4-year contract.
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Volunteers are needed for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign when it begins after Thanksgiving,
Red Kettle volunteers will begin ringing bells around the area beginning at 9 in the morning Friday and they’ll continue ringing those bells through 3 p.m. Dec. 23. The Olean Salvation Army has a goal of $50,000 this year. The charity says a few organizations, businesses and people have offered to help with the program, but they need more help.

Today’s the day to sound off either for or against rental inspections in Olean. Its your chance to say what you like or don’t like about the Common council’s 29-page proposal it’s considering.
Theres a public hearing tonight at 5:30 in the council chambers of the Olean Municipal Building. And of course the council wants eeverybody to show up before the vote, rather than afterwards. If no changes are needed after rhe hearing, the rental inspection proposal as is is expected to come before the full council for a vote Nov. 28. The law would go into effect on June 1, of next year.
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A driver went off the road and hit a tree in Salamanca and the passenger is the one who winds up thrown from the wreckage and dead. The Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office is investigating to find out what happened. It was a one-car accident.

Cattaraugus County’s $230.2 million budget passed through the County Legislature’s Finance Committee Thursday night. Now you the public get your chance.
The full County Legislature meets tomorrow afternoon at 4 for a public hearing on the budget.
It lowers the full value tax rate by 20 cents per $1,000.
So far the budget’s passed through committees with minor changes.
Legislators will be asked to approve $1.5 million in fund transfers in order to get $3.1 million in IGT funds. The request must be received by Nov. 29 or the county could lose the IGT funding.
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Cattaraugus County lawmakers are expected to approve a $258,000 bid tomorrow for ash trees on a 200-acre tract of county forest in the town of Portville.
It is the first of several county forest timber sales in an area threatened by the emerald ash borer.
The Portville county forest property has a mix of red oak, hard and soft maple, cherry, white oak, basswood, tulip, poplar and birch.

The rape and kidnapping trial of Francis O’Donnell’s been scheduled to begin early next month.
He’s accused of sexually assaulting a woman and holding her prisoner in his Olean House apartment for a month. He was arrested in February after dropping her off at Olean General Hospital.
The woman says O’Donnell raped and beat her multiple over a couple of weeks. O’Donnell denies the charge.
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Two babies from Salamanca who went missing with their mothers have been found 300 miles away in Queens. Londyn Richardson and Malani Ventura — along with their mothers — are safe.
The state issued alerts for the missing babies on Saturday morning. Londyn is 29 days old and Malani is 3 months old. Londyn’s mother, Keshauna Boggs, is 18. Malani’s mother, Selena Ventura, is 16. Officials said both teenagers are also safe.
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Scientistst say Eastern coyotes are becoming more wolf like. They’re covering more territory and getting bigger.

It’s gonna cost $85,000 for a new Allegany sewer line. The development and agriculture committee voted to greant the town of allegany $85,000tohelp with the development near exit 24 of interstate 86.
sprague development of Yorkshire bought the site several years agao to redevelop it. but sewer service to the site is necessary. the committee decided the only way to get this porperty developed is to invest in a new sewer line.
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big game season opens this weekend and it’s supposed to be wet and cold for the first few days of the traditional gun season for deer and bear. There’s a 100 percent chance of rain across the southern tier on saturday with wind and possible lake effect snow on sunday. tempertaures will be between 30 and 44 degrees saturday and 24 to 31 degrees on sunday. strong winds are expected both days as well, and that’s not good for deer huting.